Ireland's largest hotel group Dalata has completed its takeover of the former Holiday Inn in Belfast city centre - now rebranded as the Clayton.

Dalata acquired the hotel on Ormeau Avenue for £18.5m back in March - in what is understood to be the biggest-ever hotel transaction in the city. And the group also took over management of Belfast's Ten Square after it entered administration in January.

It is to open 13 hotels across the UK and Ireland under the Clayton Hotels brand by the end of 2015 in locations including Galway, Dublin and Manchester. The Clayton brand is a new line of primarily four-star hotels aimed at the corporate market, according to a company spokesman.

The Holiday Inn Belfast is Dalata's first owned property in the capital and marks further expansion into Northern Ireland where it already operates the Maldron Hotel at Belfast International Airport.

Pat McCann, founder and chief executive officer of the Dalata Hotel Group, said it was "an exciting time for the Dalata team".